Rotunda stops monthly mortality reports

Rotunda Hospital

The Rotunda will publish the data every three months instead but will continue to publish figures on 14 other metrics each month.

It said the figures for perinatal mortality and major obstetric events were small and, as a measurement of safety, should be reported over a minimum period of three months.

In a statement, it said management had met with the HSE and Department of Health (DoH) before making the changes.

It said it intended to publish the figures quarterly “as a more informative and accurate reflection of a trend”.

The quarterly report for September will include data from the second quarter of the year.

The Rotunda also did not believe that reporting the number of clinical incidents reported to the Clinical Indemnity Scheme was “any indicator of safety or can usefully be used as such an indicator”.

Furthermore, there was no agreement among hospitals nationally on which events required the filing of a clinical incident report.

The National Maternity Hospital told Irish Medical Times it would continue to report monthly data on all 17 metrics. “However, we recognise that there is valid concern that some of the monthly figures are small numbers and liable to significant fluctuations. It is in this context that quarterly reporting would be more appropriate and that monthly reporting should be considered within the context of the comprehensive and detailed annual clinical reports produced by the three Dublin maternity hospitals on an annual basis,” a spokesperson said.

The DoH said MPSS were a welcome addition to patient safety assurance systems and it commended the participation of the 19 maternity units to date.

“The Department expects that each individual maternity hospital will make arrangements to publish a full MPSS on their websites,” a spokesperson said.

niamh.mullen@imt.ie